Grisly find confirms Neanderthal cannibalism

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Archaeologists have just uncovered the best evidence yet that Neanderthal humans were cannibals.

As this week's Science reports, a team of French and American archaeologists found human bones in amongst the bones of local game in a grisly scene which suggests the humans were killed, eaten and disposed of in a similar way to the other animals.

The 100,000-200,000 year old bones were found at the cave site of Moula-Guercy, 80 metres above the modern Rhone River in south-eastern France. It appears that a group of Neanderthals removed the flesh of at least six individuals before breaking their bones apart with a hammer and anvil to remove the marrow and brains.

"The work at the Moula-Guercy cave allows us for the first time to demonstrate the existence of the practice of cannibalism by European Neanderthals," said research leader Alban Defleur from the Université de la Méditerranée at Marseilles.

It is unclear as to why exactly the Neanderthals were eaten. Defleur believes it's unlikely they were eaten for survival as there was an abundance of natural food sources at the site. However, the researchers have also found no evidence that the bones were cut and broken as in a mortuary ritual either. In fact, the Neanderthal bones were found scattered in amongst deer bones which also displayed similar cut marks and breaks.

This is what makes the site so interesting. For almost a century, there have been theories that Neanderthals practised cannibalism but up until now evidence has been scarce. At several other European sites, Neanderthal bones possessed markings that some archeologists interpreted as signs of cannibalism but critics believed that the marks may have been caused by other activities, for example the gnawing of the bones by other animals, cleaning the bones in preparation for burial or even mishandling of the bones by archaeologists.

In the case of the Moula-Guercy site, these doubts have been removed by the researchers carefully mapping the position of the bones as well as taking detailed notes of associated stone tools, animal remains and sediment layers in which the bones were buried.

78 Neanderthal bones were found belonging to at least six individuals: two adults, two 15 or 16 year olds and two six or seven year olds. All the skull and limb bones were broken apart with only the hand and foot bones remaining intact. Cuts across the foot, ankle and elbow joints show that at least one of the individuals had their Achilles tendon, toe-flexor tendons and the tendons of the biceps muscle cut. In two of the younger individuals the temporalis muscle, used to clench the jaw, was cut from the skull. Also, there were other cuts which show the thigh muscle was removed and in at least one instance, a tongue was cut out.

Similar cuts and fractures on the deer bones suggest that the deer were butchered in a similar way strongly indicating that the Neanderthals practised cannibalism.

"If we conclude the animal remains are leftovers from a meal, we're obliged to expand that conclusion to include humans," said Defleur.